Taking A Detour
by DarkElements10
Summary: A trip to Paris, a handsome stranger, and an even stranger request is a story you can bring home to your family. BarryCade. The Flash and The Flame AU. Tumblr prompt.


**Chance Encounters**

**By: Riley**

**Summary - A trip to Paris, a handsome stranger, and an even stranger request is a story you can bring home to your family. BarryCade. The Flash and The Flame AU. Tumblr prompt.**

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"Wow, look, mom." Seconds passed before a more insistent, "_Look, mom," _that only an eight year old could muster.

Cadence sighed and pushed her hair behind her ears before pressing her way through the crowd that separated her from her son. She made her way to the front, pressing an elbow into the side of the man who didn't move at her polite, "Excuse me," the first time, and stepped up behind Brady, who stood on the seat of a bench, hands pressed onto the side of the concrete barrier.

"Look, it's the Eiffel tower!" He declared, pointing at it.

"I see it, bud," Cadence replied.

She pressed her hand to Brady's back, ensuring he was steady on his feet before looking out over the monument that she'd dreamt of seeing for years. It was everything she'd thought it'd be. _Hoped _it'd be. Seeing it in person was so much better than seeing it in the movies, and in books, and hearing about it from all the other people who'd vacationed there. Paris was as common a vacation spot to the upper class in Metropolis as a trip to Las Vegas for the weekend 'just because'. That'd all gone flying out the window since he'd gotten pregnant and since then, visiting the most romantic place on Earth had been a pipe dream.

Romantic.

Cadence sighed quietly. Dates and romance weren't hard for her to come by, she'd even found an interesting woman at the café the night before, but, as she and the man she'd met the week before had done, she'd hightailed it as soon as Cadence started to talk about her son. She didn't blame any of them, dating was hard, dating a single mother was even harder. And it wasn't anything she really thought much of, she loved all the time she had to spend with Brady. But it was different when her dream vacation was more of a family vacation than a romantic getaway, she'd always hoped it'd be.

All those romance movies had really skewed her views on what reality was like. Either that or she'd been watching too many episodes of _Friends._

Brady immediately noticed his mother's displeasure and frowned, turning to face her. "What's the matter mom? Don't you like it? I thought you always wanted to see the Eiffel Tower."

"I did. Don't worry. Nothing's wrong."

"But you're sad."

"I'm not sad. Just a little…" She shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her car length coat, shrugging. "A little disappointed, I guess."

Brady blinked up at her. "But why?"

"Well, they call Paris the city of romance and so far…" she shrugged again. "I'm not doing so well in that department." Brady twisted his mouth to the side. "Don't get me wrong, bud, but sometimes when I think of dinner dates, I'm thinking of going to a place that doesn't give crayons to go along with the menu." Brady continued to look at her. She confessed under his curious gaze. "Okay, okay, and mom's been getting on my case about whether or not I've met someone yet, alright?"

_That must've been bothering me more than I thought, _Cadence turned her gaze skyward.

"Okay, so…we just need to find someone to help you."

"What?" Cadence looked at her son as if he were crazy.

The 'duh' look on his face proved he thought it was simple. "You know. We need to find someone who'll make MaMaw think you're with them." He turned and lifted a hand to shield his eyes. He took a cursory glance around the viewing are. "And, you're not getting any younger, mom. You probably could find someone."

"Gee, thanks."

Brady tapped his chin. "Maybe we should try a radio ad or something?"

Cadence planted her hands on her hips and gazed at him seriously. "Have you been watching _Sleepless in Seattle _again?"

Brady ignored her. He jumped down from the bench and slipped past a young family that moved to get a closer look. Cadence tried to follow him, quickly losing him among the growing crowd that gathered under the crisp fall day. Figured he was able to get away from her so quickly, he may as well be a ninja with how easily he'd blended in with his surroundings since he was born. Parents always said they worried about their children when they were quiet, Brady being an only child and having a penchant for entertaining himself made it that much more difficult.

"Brady?" Cadence walked around the observation deck, bobbing and weaving as she tried to find her son. "Brady? Where'd you go?" She turned the corner and almost fainted in shock and horror, seeing Brady march directly up to a young man about her age nd tap him on the arm.

"Excuse me?" Brady waited until he had the man's attention then point-blank-asked. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"What?" The man replied, blinking in surprise.

"A girlfriend," Brady repeated. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"I, uh, no, not really. Um." He cleared his throat, face screwing up into a kind smile. "Not right now. I haven't really been looking. Not that I'm not _looking _or that I _can't _get one but—"

"Brady!" Cadence grabbed his shoulder and sharply pulled him back against her. She tapped her fingers into his shoulders, a subtle sign she wasn't pleased, but smiled apologetically at the man. "Sorry about that, he got away from me."

"Mom, he doesn't have a girlfriend." Brady tipped his head back to look innocently up at her. "Maybe he'll work."

"We can't ask him to help me."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm pretty sure it's illegal." Cadence gave the man, who watched them closely, an apologetic glance, taking a step back. "I'm sorry. My son got away from me and he can be really friendly towards strangers. I'm trying to break him of that habit."

The man smiled in response. "That's alright," he replied. "My mom and dad told me I was the same way when I was a kid." Cadence lifted an eyebrow in response. Interesting. Someone who didn't run away the minute she said she was a mother. "So much so I came home beat up almost every day." Her eyebrows rose even higher. The man frowned, thinking of a moment, then briefly squeezed his eyes shut. "I mean, me being friendly didn't get me beat up. I was trying to help some other bullied kids and because of that, I wasn't well liked and—"

'—And _that's _why they beat you up?" Cadence broke in.

"Yes, well, no, I mean…" he took in a deep breath. "Sorry, I'm not explaining myself very well." He held out his hand, found it filled with papers, shifted it to his free hand, then thrust the correct one to her. "I'm Barry Allen. Sorry."

"I'm Cadence Nash." She shook his hand, noticing and smiling at the sparks she felt tingle her fingertips. "And this is my son, Brady."

"Hi!" Brady waved.

"Hey." Barry smiled at him. Then up at Cadence. "So what brings you guys to France?"

"Vacation," Cadence replied. "What about you?"

"Work. I work for the CCPD and a case brought me here."

"CCPD? You live in Central City, too?"

It was then Barry's turned to raise his eyebrows. Then he grinned. "Small world. Didn't think I'd see anyone from home out here. I mean, the world's not that small. It's actually about a 1 in 135,000 chance of that happening. But that's just talking about Central City and Paris in general, including the rates of cross country flights going across the US to France. Not including the population rates of all of the United States and France and those who are tourists and natural habitants." He continued to ramble on for a few moments with Cadence and Brady staring at him. "Not that we're animals, though, technically we are." He paused. "I'm sorry, that must be super boring for you."

"Not at all," Cadence reassured him. "You really know your stuff."

He shrugged, turning a shy grin to his feet. Then he looked at her curiously. "So…why was he asking if I have a girlfriend?"

"Because my mom is insane and she's trying to get me to see that the only way I can get through life is if I have a man at my side," Cadence said, gently kicking at the ground. "And my son here,"—she nodded toward Brady who beamed—"thinks that if I took a picture with some random guy it'd get my mom to get off my back for a little while."

Barry looked thoughtful. "It might," he agreed. Then he flushed. "I mean, if she's as insane as you say she is. I don't know."

"She is, trust me."

"So…" Brady rocked back and forth on his heels. "If you don't have a girlfriend, do you mind taking a picture with my mom?" He pulled out his phone and wiggled it back and forth. "A hug, a kiss, whichever works."

"Whoa? What?"

"Brady!"

Brady shrugged. "You want it to be real, right?" He stepped back, bringing up the camera app on his phone. "You want Mamaw to think you're in love and when people are in love, they kiss, right?" He brought his camera up in front of him. "I've seen you kiss your dates before, just pretend I'm not here." Then he lowered his phone, nose wrinkling. "Just…don't do anything gross, okay?"

Suddenly feeling as if she were on fire, Cadence brought up a hand and brushed her hair back from her face. She sighed, folding her arms. "I promise he's not as crazy as this. He must've snuck into the chocolate in the minibar last night."

"It's okay," Barry said quickly. "He's just…it's obvious he really cares about you." He looked at her, then looked away. "And, well, you don't want your mom to be upset, do you?" He suddenly looked concerned. "She's not _really _insane, is she?"

"That's up for debate," Cadence said dryly.

Barry laughed.

"_Hello? _My battery's dying!" Brady called.

Cadence glared at him once more. Then looked back to Barry. Couldn't help but smile. He was really cute. In a shy way. "So…a story for the ages. Something to bring back to your friends and family…do you mind my son takin a picture of us kissing so I can pretend I had a romantic time in Paris?"

"Wouldn't, uh, his father mind?" Barry asked. Then his eyes widened. He wrung the papers in his hands. "I guess he's out of the picture if you haven't mentioned him. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"—It's okay. He's been out of the picture for a while." Her voice turned soft. "Just us."

Barry nodded. Rubbed the back of his neck. Nodded again. He placed his papers on the railing of the overlook and leaned toward her. Cadence's eyes closed as she leaned back. Their noses touched, lips so close their breaths intermingled. For a moment, Cadence wondered if she was the insane one, before his warm lips were over hers. Sparks, warmth spread through her, reaching all the way ot her toes and back.

His hands moved, from not touching her at all to holding her in a romantic embrace, one to her head, the other at her waist, holding her closer to him. She took a breath before kissing him again, this time holding him as well. Finally, she heard the sound of the camera shuttering and opened her eyes, backing away.

"I got it!" Brady's voice declared.

Barry smiled again, the same shy smile as before. He cleared his throat and dropped his hands from around her. Cadence smiled, "Was it as good for you as it was for me?" She teased, hoping to ease the tension.

"Um, yeah," Barry said quietly. "It was." He cleared his throat. "Do…um…do you think…maybe we could see each other again. I mean, if you want to? You don't' have to. I'm just a stranger. Well, I guess not, we live in the same city. But it's not like we're neighbors or anything. Unless we are. I don't know."

"Barry." Cadence grasped his wrist. "I'd like to see you again." She looked to Brady. "Maybe we can all go out to breakfast or something."

"Okay. Um. Oh, I'm staying here." Barry whipped out a notebook, flashing his badge, and scribbled in it before passing it to her. "We can meet up tomorrow, or something. I have to go. But…um…" he backed away, lifting a hand. "Bye."

"Bye." Cadence waved back.

Brady waved to him, before easing up to his mother's side. Cadence turned her gaze to him, suspicious.

"Why do I have the feeling you did that on purpose?" She asked.

Brady merely smiled in response.

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**THE END**


End file.
